VESTAL, N.Y. - On the heels of an impressive win over the reigning conference champions, Binghamton men's basketball looks to continue the momentum when the Bearcats (10-11, 1-5 America East) host Hartford (6-15, 1-5 AE) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Events Center. 

With a long drive to Maine looming on the weekend, BU will look to take advantage of a second straight home game, where the team is 6-3 this season. Fans are also hoping to celebrate an individual milestone on Wednesday as junior forward Willie Rodriguez approaches the 1,000-point plateau. He needs just 12 points to become the 19th player in the program's 70-year history to reach the mark - fifth during BU's Division I era. Rodriguez is bidding to hit the 1,000-point total faster than any other Division I Bearcat. 

The game will serve as BU's annual installment of the Coaches vs. Cancer promotion, a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). The program has raised more than $25 million since its inception in 1993 to benefit the Society's missions. Head coach Tommy Dempsey has pledged five dollars for every point BU scores against the Hawks and he and his staff will be sporting sneakers in support of the program.

The American Cancer Society will be setting up informational tables on the Concourse before the game and Binghamton University Dining Services will have a Bearcats hat giveaway (while supplies last).   

QUICK HITS
•    This is Binghamton's 70th season of basketball, 16th at the Division I level
•    BU ranks fourth in the country in bench minutes (kenpom.com). Eleven players are averaging 12+ minutes and nobody is playing more than 26 min./game
•    Bearcats are averaging 70.8 ppg. on offense, nearly 10 points higher than their 2015-16 average (60.9)
•    Junior Willie Rodriguez (988 pts.) and senior Marlon Beck (970 pts.) are closing in on the 1,000-point plateau. Rodriguez needs 12 points to reach the mark and Beck needs 30. If Rodriguez gets to 1,000 vs. Hartford (in his 75th career game), he will reach the milestone faster than any other Bearcat (D-I era). Jeffrey St. Fort also surpassed the mark during his junior season in 2001-02 (76th game). He will become the 19th BU player in 70 years to eclipse the 1,000-point total.   

Last time out
•    BU grabbed its first conference win of the season, pinning a first conference loss of the season on Stony Brook, 71-67
•    Junior forward Bobby Ahearn scored a game-high 21 points (7-of-11 FG, 3-3 3-pt.), including 13 in the pivotal second half
•    Sophomore guard Timmy Rose hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 0:20 left
•    BU was plus-nine on the glass in the second half and shot 52 percent
•    Junior guard Yosef Yacob hit 6-of-8 for 14 points in 26 minutes of action
•    The game was tied five times and had nine lead changes (six in second half)      

About Hartford
•    The Hawks have dropped seven of eight games and have been outscored by an average of 16 points in conference play
•    On Sunday Hartford lost 81-56 at home to New Hampshire
•    The team's lone conference win was a 54-44 home win over Maine
•    Hartford launches an average of nearly 22 three-point attempts per game but is hitting just 29% in league play
•    The Hawks had to replace a second team all-conference player in their lineup and were picked to finish eighth (of nine) in the preseason poll     

All-time series vs. Hartford
•    Hartford leads the all-time series 20-12 and has won 10 of the last 11
•    Binghamton is 6-9 at home vs. Hartford with the last win coming in the 2009-10 season (66-53 on Feb. 16)
•    Twenty of the 32 all-time games have been decided by single digits, including 14 games by four or fewer points
•    The teams split the season series last year with each winning on the road. Hartford won 76-72 in Vestal (1/13) and BU returned the favor in West Hartford one month later, winning 68-54. In that game, Willie Rodriguez had 27 points and 11 rebounds and BU extended a nine-point halftime lead.  

Rose raising his assist-to-turnover ratio
Sophomore guard Timmy Rose has moved among the conference leaders in assists (5th, 3.9) and assist-to-turnover ratio (6th, 2.3). His ratio ranks 76th in the country. 

Rodriguez and Beck closing in on 1,000-point milestone    
Junior forward Willie Rodriguez (988 pts.) and senior guard Marlon Beck (970 pts.) are on the cusp of reaching the 1,000-point plateau. There have been 18 players to reach the 1,000-point club in BU's 69-year basketball history. Just two four-year Division I players (Troy Hailey and Mike Gordon) have reached the plateau. The last time two BU teammates reached the 1,000-point mark in the same season was Jeffrey St. Fort and Mike Wright during the 2001-02 season. St. Fort is also the last Binghamton player to reach the mark in three years.

Division I-II era 1,000-point scorers
Jeffrey St. Fort (1999-03)    1,335 pts.
Mike Wright (1998-02)    1,127
Troy Hailey (2003-07)    1,042
Mike Gordon (2004-08)    1,023
All-time scoring leader: Chris Jackey (1986-90), 1,721 pts.

BU bench and depth paying dividends
Binghamton has 11 players averaging 12+ minutes in 2016-17 and their bench minutes rank fourth in the nation (kenpom). The bench has outscored opposing benches in 14 of 21 games. Seven times BU's bench has contributed 30 or more points. Because of depth and most recently, injuries, coach Dempsey has used 12 different starting lineups this season.

Yacob dialed in from beyond arc
Redshirt junior guard Yosef Yacob is shooting 58 percent (22-of-38) from three-point range this season. His average would be top-10 in the nation but Yacob currently falls short of the minumum makes requirement (2.5/game).